1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to motion compensation MRI and more specifically, to the creation of motion compensated MRI M-Mode images of the myocardial wall.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a major cause of death in the western world. Several diagnostic tests are available for patients suspected of having CAD. One such test is a cardiac stress test using MRI. MRI is often preferential to x-ray based imaging techniques because of the risks associated with exposure to ionizing radiation. Therapies such as cardiovascular catheter-based intervention may be used to treat patients suffering from CAD. Research is currently underway to use MRI to provide image guidance to aid in the performance of interventional procedures such as cardiovascular catheter-based intervention so that current x-ray based imaging techniques such as fluoroscopy may be replaced.
However, conventional MRI-based electrocardiograms (ECG) do not deliver the full range of diagnostically relevant information that may be provided by other imaging modalities. One such modality is the M-Mode echocardiogram.
The M-Mode echocardiogram is a visualization technique that uses ultrasound to produce an image of the human heart. However, unlike the conventional two-dimensional ultrasound that produces a two-dimensional image of an area of interest including the heart, the M-Mode echocardiogram captures image data concerning a single ray through the myocardial region and thus essentially entails one-dimensional image data that has excellent axial resolution. The image information of this single ray is captured in real-time and displayed sequentially to produce an image that tracks the motion of the myocardial region over time. The M-Mode echocardiogram may be used to provide information of a high diagnostic value.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is increasingly used to image the human body, and in particular the myocardial region. However, MRI is generally used to produce a two or three-dimensional image. Accordingly, the diagnostic information that may be obtained from the M-Mode echocardiogram is not generally available from medical image data obtained using an MRI.